Robin Hood Tax campaign takes to the global stage

Robin Hood Tax campaign takes to the global stage

By staff writers

18 May 2010

Robin Hood Tax campaigners from across the world will be taking part in Make Finance Pay Week, a global event aimed at making the financial sector take responsibility for its part in the global recession.

This week, Robin Hood Tax campaigners from across the world will be taking part in Make Finance Pay Week, a global event aimed at making the financial sector take responsibility for the global recession it helped cause.

As G20 finance ministers meet in Berlin, coalitions from England, Scotland, the United States, Canada, Germany, France and Australia will come together to campaign for all G20 governments to introduce a Robin Hood Tax on banks which would raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

Robin Hood Tax campaigners say this money should be used to prevent cuts in public spending, tackle poverty at home and abroad, and help fight climate change by enabling developing countries to adapt to the effects of global warming.

Owen Tudor, Head of European Union and International Relations at the TUC said: “Make Finance Pay Week shows that the Robin Hood Tax campaign is now a global phenomenon, with events taking place in at least seven countries on three continents this week.

“We hope that many more people will join the hundreds of thousands of people across the globe who are urging their political leaders to hold banks accountable for the economic crisis they created.

“It’s time for the G20 heads of state to listen and agree a Robin Hood Tax to prevent large-scale cuts in public spending, meet their obligations to developing countries hurt as a result of the global recession, and raise the billions of dollars necessary to protect people from climate change.”

A global petition directed at the G20 heads of state will also be launched this week. Entitled 'Make Finance Work' it aims to show G20 leaders the wide support for a Robin Hood Tax.

Other events that will take place this week include:

· United States: US unions and community-based economic justice groups, led by the National People's Action, will take part in demonstrations in Washington DC targeted at Wall Street.

· England: Robin Hood Tax campaigners will gather at Queen’s Walk, across the river from the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 19 May at 10.30am to welcome the new Parliament and urge new MPs to make a Robin Hood Tax on banks one of their top legislative priorities. Dressed as Robin Hood, campaigners will march from College Green across Westminster Bridge down to Queen’s Walk, holding giant mosaics of pictures of campaign supporters.

· Scotland: Robin Hood, Maid Marion, Friar Tuck and their merry men will ride down Buchanan Street in Glasgow on Wednesday May 19 at 1030am, throwing Fairtrade chocolate coins to passers-by, urging them to support the Robin Hood Tax and 'be part of the world's greatest bank job.'

· Germany: Activists from the German Robin Hood Tax campaign (Die Robin Hood Steuer Kampagne) will perform a stunt at Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin aimed at the heads of state and finance ministers taking in part in the G20 informal finance meeting in the city this week. The stunt will see campaigners dressed as Robin Hood and merry people attacking a bankers’ carriage loaded with big bags of money. A few activists playing Robin Hood will board the carriage and start to reload small bags with money from the big ones. Each small bag will subsequently go into a bucket labelled Fight poverty, finance development and protect the climate.

· Canada Led by Oxfam Canada, campaigners will be calling the country’s government to support the Robin Hood Tax, with events taking place in major cities, including Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Saskatoon, Ottawa and St. John’s. The events take place on Wednesday 19 May.